


i'm scared (you'll forget about me)

by angellwings



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: #SaveSharky, Angst, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Honesty, Internal Conflict, Introspection, Mutual Pining, Personal Growth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27656440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: Severide doesn’t know what happened with Brett and Casey. Casey won’t tell him. But Kelly knows it’ssomething. Something that puts a guilty sullen look on Casey’s face and something that sends Brett running in the other direction anytime they’re in the same room.He’s guessing Casey didn’t resolve it like he told him to.Severide knocks on Casey’s door jamb, hand in his pocket holding something Matt asked him to get last week. Casey turns to face him and Severide bites back a wince. He looks terrible -- exhausted.
Relationships: Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Comments: 66
Kudos: 237





	i'm scared (you'll forget about me)

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** So, this is a bit of an experiment. It’s not my typical style. And it became something totally different from what I had in my head, but there are parts of this that I genuinely love to pieces and I don’t say that much about my own writing.
> 
> I promised a few people on twitter that I would write about a certain hula dancing dashboard shark we all know and love because I’m DEVASTATED he seems to have been lost in the accident (#SaveSharky). But when I started this I intended for it to be short and cute but the characters had other plans. I also wanted to play with Severide and Stella POV a little. I don’t normally bounce around from one POV to the next like this but...well it was fun.
> 
> Also I used the dialogue from the 903 promo because I love it so much and want to see that convo SO BADLY.
> 
> Anyway! Hope you like it!
> 
> Happy reading!
> 
> Xoxo
> 
> PS- right from the jump I’ll say I’m not opposed to part two of this. I wanted to write Sylvie POV but I fell in love with the way the last section of this ends and it just felt like the perfect _tone_ to end it on. So keep in mind that this may not be the last of this fic. ;)

_******_

_“Don't say a word, just come over and lie here with me,_

_'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see,_

_I want you so bad I'll go back on the things I believe,_

_There I just said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me.”_

_-“Edge of Desire” by John Mayer_

_******_

Severide doesn’t know what happened with Brett and Casey. Casey won’t tell him. But Kelly knows it’s _something_. Something that puts a guilty sullen look on Casey’s face and something that sends Brett running in the other direction anytime they’re in the same room.

He’s guessing Casey didn’t resolve it like he told him to.

Severide knocks on Casey’s door jamb, hand in his pocket holding something Matt asked him to get last week. Casey turns to face him and Severide bites back a wince. He looks terrible -- exhausted.

“Damn, you look like shit.”

“Gee, thanks,” Matt replies with a scoff. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah, I got that _thing_ you asked me to get from the impound lot? I meant to give it to you the other night but you left before I did and then you never showed up at Molly’s so--” He takes the object, wrapped in newspaper, and holds it out to Matt. “You asked me to get it so I thought you might want to be the one to--”

“No,” he said quickly, looking pained at the suggestion. “You can do it.”

Kelly narrows his eyes on Matt and sighs tiredly. “Alright, cut the crap, what did you do?”

“I screwed up,” he admits with a shake of his head. “You know, like I always do.”

“Then fix it,” Severide insists. “Start _here_.” He extends the object out toward Matt again.

Casey stares at it, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously, but eventually takes it. “I know what you’re trying to do, but the problem is bigger than,” he pauses and holds up the newspaper wrapped bundle. “ _This_.”

Kelly shrugs as if he’s unbothered, but he’s not. Not really. When his friends are unhappy, _he’s unhappy_. He can’t help it. “You might be surprised. If there’s one thing Stella’s taught me, it’s that the little things can make all the difference. That might seem like a little thing to you, but I bet it’s not to her.”

Matt shakes his head and opens his mouth to disagree but the bells go off. Alerting them to an “all respond” call. 

“Give that to her, _talk_ to her,” Kelly orders. “And don’t chicken out.”

Casey rolls his eyes but nods anyway. “Copy that.”

He puts the small present away in his desk drawer before they both sprint off toward their rigs. He loves his best friend, not that he’d ever say that outloud, but sometimes the guy was his own worst enemy. Whatever happened, Kelly would bet good money it was because Casey was spending too much time thinking and not enough time _talking_.

As much as Severide hated talking, he’d learned how. _For Stella_. 

Now it’s Casey’s turn.

That little memento better be the key to breaking the ice.

Or else he broke into an impound lot a _second_ time for nothing.

******

Stella hasn’t had much time to talk to Brett lately. Girls On Fire and Kylie and studying for the Lieutenant’s exam are keeping her busy. It’s a good busy, but right now she can’t help but feel guilty. Something is obviously wrong with her friend.

She’s noticed her avoiding Casey like the plague. She’s noticed her sad eyes and dimmed smile. She’s also noticed Casey sulking around the apartment every day for a week. Neither she nor Severide could put together what happened. 

But watching Sylvie stare a yearning hole into Matt Casey as they all climb into their rigs is _painful_. That isn’t just disappointment. That’s _heartbreak_.

Brett frantically telling Stella that she _couldn’t_ be in love with Casey, replayed through her mind. The fear in her eyes had bothered Stella ever since. Her friend isn’t one to back down from a fight, but something about this particular fight has her spooked.

And there’s only one person in all their shared histories that had the power to mess with both Brett _and_ Casey at the same time. _Gabby_.

But Casey hadn’t talked to Gabby in months. She shares an apartment with him, she’d know if he had. Or at the very least Kelly would know. Gabby hadn’t come up in almost a _year_. So what exactly is the problem? Does Brett think Matt Casey jumps out of a moving vehicle for just _anyone_?

Maybe the problem is Casey? Has she been reading him wrong and he _doesn’t_ have feelings for Brett? That seems impossible, but could that be the case? That’s the only thing Stella can think of to explain the heartbreak in her best friend’s eyes.

For now, she’ll make no assumptions. She has other things to focus on. Like the car fire they’ve rolled up on inside an imported vehicle storage facility. As they make their way inside, Stella notices Severide’s eyes bugging out of his head. She rolls her eyes with a smirk. 

So many very fast, _very expensive_ cars. Knowing her man he’s this close to losing his cool and turning total gearhead on them.

There are two men trapped in one of the vehicles. Joyriders from the look of them. They broke into the facility and then promptly wrecked not one but _three_ imported sports cars. The one smashed in between both vehicles is the one on fire. If the fire spreads to the other two, or any of the other nearby vehicles, they’ll be facing one hell of an explosion. 

Squad works on getting the joyriders out of the vehicles while Casey directs Truck to douse the flames, with Brett and Mackey standing by -- gurney and stair chair at the ready. They get the vehicles separated and the flames mostly contained, or so they think.

The car in the middle suddenly hisses and bursts into flames again. Some sort of shrapnel is propelled out of the car and a second later Casey is down.

“Casey!” Brett yells, rushing forward. 

Stella helps her move him back from the scene. 

He’s groaning and looks a little dazed, but the fact that he’s conscious is a good sign.

There’s a heavily bleeding cut across his cheek but otherwise he looks fine. Winded, groggy, from the impact into the ground, but there’s no other sign of injury.

“Hey, look at me,” Brett says, trying to get him to focus on her. He grimaces and opens his eyes wide but he still looks confused. “Can you hear me?” He doesn’t respond and Brett swallows thickly before leaning further over him. “Come on, Matt. Are you with me?”

Stella’s heart goes out to Sylvie. There’s no doubt what she feels for Casey. That last question was full of concern and tenderness with a small amount of fear.

“Sylvie?” He asks, louder than necessary. “I can’t...my ears are ringing.”

She nods at him and pulls out her pin light, using it to check out his pupils. She hands Stella a roll of gauze for Casey’s cheek and then turns back to Matt. “You were standing in front of a car when it blew up,” she tells him. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

His focus drifts again and Sylvie holds her breath while she waits for his answer. She looks antsy -- as if she needs him to be okay or give her some wound to treat. 

“Matt,” she says again, softer this time. She takes over holding the gauze to his cheek from Stella.

The minute her hand is on his face, Matt’s eyes snap to hers and his face softens as his concentration returns. From Stella’s point of view, it looks as if Brett’s touch grounds him. Brings him back to himself. His expression is a mixture of gratefulness and awe. 

Definitely the look of a man in love.

Well, there goes her Casey doesn’t return the feelings theory.

If he’s not head over heels for Sylvie Brett then someone needs to tell his face.

“Hey, there you are,” Brett says with a tiny relieved smile. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

He shakes his head, bringing his gloved hand up to cover Brett’s. “No, no I’m good. I think I just got clipped by a bolt or a cap or something.”

Her eyes narrow on him and a gentle smirk appears on Casey’s face.

“Really, Sylvie, I’m okay.”

“Alright,” she says reluctantly. “Let me at least get you to the rig to dress that cut and look you over for a concussion.”

He nods and orders Stella back to the fire. She hesitates a moment, just long enough to get a quick glimpse of her friends at the ambo. Casey’s sitting on the back bumper while Brett tends to his face. The softness and worry have faded -- leaving her looking professional. Maybe _too_ professional. As if she put some sort of wall back up.

While she works Casey stares at her with big wounded doe eyes, looking crestfallen at the sudden change in her demeanor.

Yeah, as soon as they get back to the house, she and Brett are having a heart to heart. There’s a piece of this puzzle missing and Stella intends to find out what it is.

They put out the fire, get the scene cleaned up, and Ambo takes their one burn victim to Med. Stella’s waiting on the app floor when 61 pulls back in. She nods at Mackey in greeting and then grabs Sylvie by the wrist, pulling her into the turnout room just as Brett did to her last week.

“Alright, spill it, sister. What’s going on with you and Casey?”

Her jaw sets and she crosses her arms across her chest defensively. Oh no. Nope. She does _not_ get to put up walls with Stella Kidd.

“Nothing,” she replies.

“I beg to differ. Whatever I witnessed on scene today was _not_ nothing,” Stella says, quirking a brow at her.

“I screwed up,” she says uncrossing her arms fiddling with her watch band. “I _knew better_ and I went full steam ahead anyway.”

Brett sighs but doesn’t elaborate and Stella furrows her brow at her.

“Okay, you’re gonna have to give me a little more to work with here. What exactly did you do?”

“I kissed Matt,” she admits, looking away from Stella to study her shoes. “And I shouldn’t have.”

“I don’t get it,” Stella tells her. “Did he not kiss you back or run away in fear...or stand there frozen staring at you like you short circuited his brain. You gotta give me some details.”

“No,” Sylvie says, shaking her head and pressing a hand to her mouth before she continues. “None of that. It was...It was _perfect_.” 

Her eyes water and chin quivers ever so slightly and that’s when Stella _really_ gets concerned. She rarely sees Brett cry. What the hell happened?

“If it was so perfect then why do you look like your heart is breaking?” Stella asks her with heartfelt worry. 

“Because I think my heart _is_ breaking, Stella. I _can’t_ be in love with him. I just _can’t_.”

“You’ve said that before but I still don’t get why.”

“Because...he’s still in love with Gabby and I can’t-- _won’t_ \--be a stand in for her. Or--or some sort of consolation prize. Or...I don’t know a _distraction_. I’ve been there before and I deserve more than that,” she says, her volume rising and her determination along with it. “I deserve someone who’ll need me as much as I need them. And Matt Casey doesn’t need _me_. That’s all there is to it.”

“Okay, there’s a lot to unpack there,” Stella says with a slow nod. “First of all, good for you for knowing what you deserve because you’re a hundred perfect right about all those things. You, of all people, deserve someone who will put _you_ first. Second of all, how do you know Casey’s still in love with Gabby or that he _doesn’t_ need you?”

Because, to Stella, his reaction to Brett on the call earlier looked an awful lot like need.

“I asked him a question,” Sylvie tells her, eyes watering again. “And he gave me the answer I was afraid to hear.”

“And what question was that?” 

“I asked him if Gabby came back and asked him to leave with her, would he go?”

Stella didn’t need to hear the answer. That sinking feeling in her gut was already there.

“He said, _I don’t know_.”

Kidd resisted hanging her head and letting out a pained groan. _Oh, Casey, you confused dumbass._

“I mean, this is all my fault. I _knew_ he was still in love with her and I got my hopes up anyway. Now, I can hardly look at him without wanting to cry or...kiss him _again_. Which is idiotic because I asked him about the thing I was afraid of and I got the answer I knew I would get.”

Hold on. This still isn’t making sense. 

“Wait,” Stella says, furrowing her brow and thinking back through Brett’s story. “When did he say he was still in love with Gabby? Did you leave something out?”

Sylvie looks confused at Stella’s question. “No. Well, apart from him trying to soften the blow and explain. But once he gave me that answer, what more is there to say?”

Uh, _plenty!_

“Alright, I have a few things I need to say,” Stella says, stepping closer to Sylvie. She wraps her arms around her and pulls her in for a tight hug. “One, I’m proud of you for knowing your worth. Two, you are unbelievably brave and self aware for taking a moment to _ask_ for what you want. Honestly, you’re a queen and I love you all the more for it.”

“Thank you,” Sylvie mutters softly as she leans into the comfort Stella is offering her. “It _sucked_.”

“I’m sorry. I know how hard it is to stand up for your own needs and I know how much it hurts when you don’t get the answer you want. I’ve been there. More than once.”

They pull apart and Kidd meets her best friend’s eyes. “But…”

“But?” Sylvie asks in surprise. “There’s a but?”

“Well...yeah,” Stella says with an apologetic grimace. “He didn’t _actually_ say he was still in love with Gabby. And I have a feeling once he gave you that initial answer, you didn’t really hear or see anything else. Did you let him explain?”

“What good would that have done?” Sylvie asks, defensively.

“I don’t really know, but what harm could it do to hear him out? He’s already given you the answer you were afraid of, right? I mean he couldn’t say anything _worse_ than that could he?”

Sylvie repeatedly shakes her head and starts pacing anxiously. “I can’t, Stella. I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Kidd asks. She’s using the exact same tone she used last week when she said she couldn’t be in love with Casey. Stella’s not letting her off easy this time.

“I just can’t.”

“But _why_? What’s holding you back? Come on, girl, it’s just us in here. You know you can tell me. Why are you running away from this? You’ve never run from your fears before so why are you running from this one?”

“Because!” She shouts, sounding defeated and frustrated. “What if the explanation is that I’m just not good enough? That I’ll never be good enough! What if I spend the rest of my life hopelessly in love with him but relegated to living in _someone else’s_ shadow? What if we try, she comes back, and then I’m left twisting in the wind?” The tears are back. She angrily wipes them away with the sleeve of her jacket. “I’ve been collateral damage in a broken marriage before and it _hurt_. I’m not doing that again. _I can’t_.”

And there it is.

The _Dawson_ of it all.

Love them or hate them, those Dawsons sure know how to leave an impression. She didn’t know Antonio that well, but she can imagine he and Gabby were similar in many ways.

Stella loves Gabby like a sister, but as with all dysfunctional families...sometimes you want to strangle a member or two. Just enough so that they’ll understand the hurt they’ve caused -- to herself included. Matt and Sylvie aren’t the only people Gabby stopped talking to.

She doesn’t think she ever would have noticed how deep Casey’s hurt ran, though, if she wasn’t with Severide right after Dawson left. Severide had definite opinions on the Gabby of it all and how that situation affected Casey’s happiness. The difference in Casey over the last two years was obvious. He was lighter and happier. Partly because of his own personal growth, but the woman in front of her was a key part of that too.

Not that she knew that.

“Fair enough,” Stella says, wrapping Sylvie in a hug again. She rubs her back soothingly and then leans back to find her eyes again. “But, as your friend, I feel obligated to remind you that Matt Casey and Antonio Dawson are two very different people. You’ve been hurt before and I respect that. But...give Casey a chance to explain. He might surprise you. I mean, you can’t be any more disappointed than you are now, right?”

Sylvie heaves a huge conflicted sigh and shrugs tiredly. “No, I guess not.”

“If he wants to talk to you,” Kidd encourages. “Then let him. If he really wants to be with you then he’s not gonna give up. He’ll try and talk to you. I’m almost certain of that.”

“Oh yeah?” Sylvie asks with a bored expression. “What makes you so sure of that?”

Stella shrugs but grins knowingly. “Just like _you_ don’t run from fear, _he_ doesn’t back down from a fight.”

Sylvie nods and turns to leave but Stella calls her back. Once Sylvie’s attention is focused on her again, Stella gives her a wide reassuring smile. “And just FYI, my friend, you cast your own very long and impressive shadow. Ask _anyone_ they’ll tell you the same.”

For the first time since she stepped out of the ambo, Sylvie smiles. Stella breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of it. No matter what happens, her friend will be okay. Sylvie’s tough and she can handle herself, even if she looks deceptively like a powder puff.

Sylvie backtracks and hugs her again, kissing her cheek as she steps back. “Have I ever told you how much I love you, Stella Kidd?”

Stella laughs and nods. “Many times -- especially after you’ve had too much wine.”

Sylvie walks out of the turn out room with a quiet chuckle on her lips, a marked improvement from how she entered. It’s a small win, but it’s enough.

She’ll take it.

******

Casey leans forward on his desk with a sigh, resting his head on his hands. He’s got a monster headache. He’s not sure if it’s because of the shrapnel that clipped his face or because of the way he’s missing a certain blonde paramedic.

As close as they’d gotten, he’d never once stopped to wonder what he would do without her. Not until last week when 61 took a header off an overpass, that is. And even then...she’d escaped that unscathed. He thought the worst was over.

But _this_ …

This strange tense silence.

_It’s torture._

He knows it’s not any easier for her either.

She forgot for a moment about how he’d hurt her the other night. For a brief beautiful moment, they were themselves again. And then he’d sat down on the back bumper of 61 and it was like a switch flipped. Gone was Sylvie, and in front of him was _Brett_.

All business. No lingering gentle touches or playful warnings to keep his wound clean and dry. Just flat _clinical_ treatment.

He hated it.

He misses her. She’s literally everywhere he goes and yet...he misses her. How fucked up is that?

And on top of that, he’s confused and thinking in these frustrating circular loops. Lately, when he’s been spun up like this, he’s run to _her_. She would offer him her opinion and, even if he didn’t agree, her perspective helped.

But this time, he can’t do that. 

Can he?

He sees movement from her bunk out of the corner of his eye and leaps up at the slightest flash of blonde hair. He takes one large step out of his quarters, noting there’s no one else around, and looks up — right into her eyes.

Her fearful, apprehensiveeyes.

She’s _afraid_ of him now? When did that happen?

They’re both frozen to their spots. For his part, he’s afraid the slightest movement will send her running. But he can’t be. This is the first time they’ve been alone in a week. He cannot miss this window. He’d better do something now — before that window closes.

“Talk to me, Sylvie. _Please_. This silent treatment, I—I hate it.”

She looks away from him and pushes her hair out of her face. “I don’t know what else there is to say.”

“ _Please_ ,” he asks, motioning to his quarters. “I just want a _chance_. That’s all.”

Recognition flashes across her eyes at his words. He’s not sure what he said, but he’s glad he said it. She sighs reluctantly and nods, following him into his quarters. He shuts the door behind him, hoping to keep any interruptions or prying ears at bay.

She leans against the end of his cot and he stands in front of his desk. She looks at him expectantly and that’s when he realizes...he has to actually _say_ something. And he has no idea what to say.

And _then_ he remembers.

The _thing_ in his desk. 

“I have something for you,” he says, in a voice that’s just a _little_ too loud and a _little_ too eager. He curses his nerves and turns to get the item out of his drawer. “Last week when Severide came in with the ambo door, I asked him about something. Something you might want back.” He self consciously clears his throat as he turns back around and offers her the wrapped package. “So, _here_. This is yours.”

Her brow furrows at him. She looks unsure, but she takes the package anyway.

She unwraps the paper, revealing the object in question. Her eyes water and she takes a deep breath, smiling fondly at the item in her hand. 

“Oh my god, Sharky,” she says with a hoarse chuckle as she holds up the hula dancing dashboard shark in the small distance between them. “I thought he was gone for good! You had Severide go get this for me?”

He clears his throat and scratches the back of his neck as he nods. “I know it’s from Mills and it’s been in the ambo with you since your first year here so...I didn’t want you to do without it if you didn’t have to.”

She meets his eyes and, for the first time since he came to on that accident site this morning, he sees clear affection in them -- pointed at _him_. Not fear or hopelessness. _Affection_. He’s missed seeing that warmth in her eyes. She hugs the toy shark to her chest and smiles widely at him.

“Thank you, Matt. This means more to me than you know.”

Huh, Severide was right.

Sometimes, it’s the little things.

It’s at least gotten them started. Now, it’s up to him to really dig in.

“About the other night,” he starts. “I don’t like how we left it.”

She carefully puts the shark in her jacket pocket, looking away from him and shaking her head as she does. “Neither did I.”

“Okay, so then let’s do something about it,” Matt suggests.

She sighs and folds her arms over her chest. “You gave me your honest answer. You can’t change that and I wouldn’t want you to. You feel how you feel. It’s better that we figured that out _now_ rather than later.”

“Figured what out?” He asks in confusion. “We haven’t figured anything out, Sylvie. My feelings for you are _real_ regardless of Gabby.”

Her gaze catches his again and this time it’s wishful yet sad and resigned. As if she wishes things were different, but knows they can’t be. It’s not a look he enjoys seeing -- especially on her.

“There is no regardless of Gabby,” Sylvie tells him with a conflicted and sympathetic expression. “That’s the point.”

There’s a pause and Matt fears the conversation is over. He’s not sure what else to say or how to straighten this out. Because it’s clear, it’s going to take more than just the right answer to her question to fix this now. To his surprise, though, Sylvie keeps speaking. Maybe she saw the confusion on his face or maybe she’s still hoping he’ll find a way to turn it around. Either way, he never wants her to stop talking. He wants to know everything she’s feeling if it’s going to keep her right here, with him. 

“You’re either in love with her and still want a life with her or you _aren’t_ and you _don’t_. There’s no way that this will work if I’m…” Her sentence trails off. She gnaws her lip and takes a fortifying breath before finishing her sentence as if it takes everything she has to forge ahead. “If I’m constantly living in her shadow. My feelings for you are real _too_ , but I won’t be the person you settle for because you can’t have her. And I won’t be the person who _distracts you_ from your problems either. I’ve been in that situation before. It didn’t end well.”

He knows exactly what situation she’s referring to and he agrees. She didn’t deserve that. Still _doesn’t_ deserve that. That’s when he realizes, they’re more alike than he originally thought. They’ve both got baggage. Just different kinds. He’s terrified he’ll screw this up and lose her -- the same way he’s lost all the other women in his life -- and she’s terrified of not being enough and being left behind _again_. The biggest difference between them, though, is that Sylvie is confronting her baggage. She knows herself and what she deserves and she’s standing her ground until she finds it.

Until she finds someone who’s going to want her above all others and stay no matter how hard life gets. Someone to care for her as much as she cares for everyone else.

Someone who will…

His back straightens as it breaks over him. He thinks back over what he knows of her. Who he’s witnessed her become and the setbacks she’s faced. The way she believes in other people and always gives them second chances. The fierce way she protects those she cares about--

She needs someone to fight _for her_ the way she fights for everyone else.

Has anyone ever _fought_ for her? Have they ever really put in the effort to make it obvious that she’s important and worthy? Based on the disappointed but accepting look on her face now, he doesn’t think so.

There’s also the fact that she seems to have misunderstood his response to her question. He tried to explain but she was upset and asked for space. He’s given her that. But now she’s here and they’re talking…

He’s not going to lay down and accept this. Even if he has to fight every skeleton in his closet, he’s not giving up on what they could have -- or her. 

“I have some things to figure out,” Matt says, honestly. “I won’t lie about that. Gabby was a part of my life, yours too, for a very long time. But I don’t feel about her the way I feel about _you_ and you’re certainly not living in _anyone’s_ shadow. No matter what happens with _us_ , I want to make that _very_ clear. You are your own singularly unique person. Becoming closer to you over these last couple of years has made me a better person -- a _happier_ person. _You_ did that for me. _No one_ else.”

Her eyes are watering now but there’s something new in them. Something different. Not quite hope, but not quite defeat. The only word he can think to describe it is... _possibility._

“Look, I’m not asking you to reconsider your decision,” he continues, beseechingly. “Not yet, anyway. But what I _am_ asking is...don’t shut me out -- or _give up_. I understand now. I understand what you want and why you want it. And _I am_ going to figure out how to be that for you.” He pauses and nods, smiling warmly at her. “Because _that’s_ what you deserve. I won’t let you settle for anything less. Maybe that ultimately won’t be me, but...I’m gonna fight like hell until the very last second. Even if that means I’m fighting myself.”

She looks utterly shocked and confused and more than a little overwhelmed. Her lips part and she stares at him with an astonished gaze. Her blue eyes catalogue his entire face, flitting from one feature to the next.

She opens her mouth to speak and as soon as she does the bells go off.

He doesn’t expect her to have an answer right now, anyway. He can see he’s surprised her.

The call is for Truck only. He _has_ to go. He hates to leave in the middle of this conversation but maybe it’s for the best. She needs time to process and so does he.

He meets her eyes, smirking softly. “Just...think about it. That’s all I ask.”

She swallows thickly and nods. “Okay.”

He gives her one last fleeting smile before sprinting off toward 81. Nothing’s been resolved, really, but he feels a million times better just having gotten everything off his chest. There’s a long road ahead of him, but he’s never been afraid of hard work and he’s _never_ avoided a worthwhile fight.

Sylvie Brett is a worthwhile fight. He has no doubts about that.


End file.
